Second man arrested in ATM skimming incident

Ben Holbrook, Correspondent

Updated
10:15 pm EDT, Wednesday, July 6, 2011

DARIEN -- Police arrested a second man in connection with an attempted ATM skimming incident in June.

Mehmet Aydin, 40, of Levittown, N.Y., was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of third-degree conspiracy to commit identity theft, unlawful reproduction of a credit card, fraudulent use of an automated teller machine and unlawful use of a scanning device.

Aydin was arrested on a warrant and is being held at the Nassau County jail. He is believed to be responsible for 26 skimming incidents in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, police said.

"This a shock to Mehmet's family and friends. He is known to be a hard-working family man with no criminal record whatsoever. It appears that Mehmet may have been an unwitting participant in this alleged scheme," said attorney Mark Sherman, who is representing Aydin.

Aydin was held in lieu of $250,000 bond.

A skimming device is an electronic reader used to illegally capture credit card and ATM card information as well as personal identification numbers associated with the card.

Aydin's arrest came almost two weeks after Darien police arrested a New London man on similar charges.

About 8:45 p.m. June 24, police responded to the Bank of America at 7 Sedgwick Ave. Bank personnel said a skimming device was placed on the ATM.

During a surveillance of the bank, Darien police and members of the Connecticut Financial Crimes Unit saw a man acting suspiciously. He was then detained at Old King's Highway North and Brookside Road.

The man, Ahmet Cilek, 45, of 18 Walden Ave., New London, committed similar crimes in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, police said. Cilek also has a criminal history in Virginia and New York, police said.

Cilek was charged with two counts of conspiracy to identity theft, unlawful reproduction of a credit card, fraudulent use of an automated teller machine, third-degree criminal attempt to commit larceny and unlawful use of a scanning device.